Next move in Luzerne County manager hiring a mystery

In the wake of Tuesday’s raucous meeting, Luzerne County Council Vice Chairman John Lombardo said he does not know how he and his colleagues will reach a resolution on hiring the next top manager.

“Obviously we are very fractured at this time, and I’m willing to work with every council member to come up with a positive solution that will be the best for the county,” Lombardo said.

Council could not hire a manager Tuesday because six supported finalist Randy Robertson and five voted for Romilda Crocamo.

The county’s home rule charter requires a majority plus one of its current members — seven votes — to hire a manager.

At least one online commenter argued the majority-plus-one will be only six votes if county Councilman Robert Schnee wins a state representative seat in next week’s special election and resigns from council. This conclusion is inaccurate because a majority of 10 council members will still be six, which keeps the plus-one minimum at seven votes, officials said.

Lombardo said he stands by his support of Crocamo, who has been serving as acting county manager since prior manager C. David Pedri’s resignation took effect July 6.

“I made my decision, and I was very resolute in it,” Lombardo said. “I firmly believe Romilda Crocamo was the best candidate for the position.”

Citizens complained of state legislators and others lobbying on behalf of Crocamo, but Lombardo insisted he made the decision on his own after weighing input from people throughout the county, both for and against Crocamo and Robertson.

Lombardo said he kept an open mind and concluded Crocamo would be best because she is intimately familiar with county government issues and “has a record of dedication and consistency.” Robertson has extensive municipal and military management experience, but not in overseeing a county government, he said.

He said he based the decision on his opinion of what’s best for all county residents, regardless of their political affiliation.

“This shouldn’t be and cannot be a partisan issue,” he said, stressing he believes all 11 council members had the county’s best interest in mind when they made their selection. “We need to be looking at what’s going to benefit the most people in the county and not just those with the loudest voice.”

Some citizens in the crowd attending Tuesday’s meeting questioned council’s inability to agree on the hiring, pointing out 10 council members are now Republican. Councilman Tim McGinley is the lone Democrat.

Luzerne resident Alyssa Fusaro, who serves on the county Election Board, was among those weighing in during Tuesday’s meeting.

Fusaro told council the Republican party is “splintered” and “split” between the “old Republican swamp party” and the “red wave.”

“The red wave is the patriot party. That is the patriots. Those are the ones that do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, not because we were bought out, talked to, spoken to or supported by another candidate,” Fusaro said.

Fusaro said the red wave is coming.

“Those Republicans that do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do will overtake the swamp and wash it right out,” Fusaro said. “Keep that in mind guys.”

What’s next

If no council members change their position to provide an existing finalist the needed seven votes, council must rely on an outside citizen search committee to recommend applicants that may be considered for the manager position.

The volunteer committee already provided council with all the finalists it deemed the most qualified, which means additional advertising would be necessary to yield additional applicants. Required by home rule, the committee has been meeting since August. To proceed, council would have to determine if the committee is willing to continue or whether new members must be publicly sought.

Chris Hackett, who has served as chair of the search committee, said Wednesday it is premature to comment on any potential continued role.

“There’s just too much uncertainty,” Hackett said. “Council has not decided on a direction, so I have not considered any options at this point.”

Committee member Rick Morelli said he would stay involved if needed and noted the committee could be reduced from seven to three members if some are unwilling or unable to continue volunteering their time.

Crocamo remains acting manager, although county Councilman Stephen J. Urban said Tuesday he wants to pursue appointing someone else.

Council’s next meeting is April 12. Only a regular majority of six is required for the acting manager appointment. Regardless of what happens with the acting manager post, Crocamo would still remain a county employee because she holds a division head position overseeing the county law office, and division heads fall under the supervision of the manager, not council.

Urban said during Tuesday’s meeting that he disputes a legal interpretation that the acting manager must be an existing employee because council brought back a former county employee to serve as interim manager at the start of home rule in January 2012, before Robert Lawton was hired as manager.

However, officials said at that time this temporary appointment was possible as a transitional move because the county had no division heads in place at that time.

The charter is clear that subsequent acting managers must be employees, the law division has said.

Section 4.06 of the charter says council may designate an acting county manager “from among the employees of the executive branch.”